Prof. Brian Trease traveled to Denver, CO to deliver an invited keynote talk on March
5th at the annual SPIE International Symposium on Smart Structures. The event celebrated
the 20th anniversary of the SPIE Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices Conference
(EAPAD), with an eye toward continued innovation in smart material systems. Prof.
Trease began working with origami while at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and now continues
the research with his students in the Mechanism, Mobility, & Multifunctional Design
Lab (3MDL).

February 2018

Prof. Brian Trease traveled to Arizona to give an invited talk "Origami-Inspired Engineering,
from Minimally Invasive Surgery to Exoplanet Exploration" at the Tucson Botanical
Gardens. Brian was featured in a monthly lecture series titled “Folded Forms”, which
is part of the Garden’s current exhibit “Origami in the Garden2”. He presented his
work on origami-inspired deployable structures, including a hands-on paper spacecraft
folding activity with the audience. Brian began working with origami while at the
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and now continues the research with his students in the Mechanism,
Mobility, & Multifunctional Design Lab (3MDL).

January 2018

The Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering conference room is now the
O-I Conference Room following the dedication on January 10. The conference room is
seeing some much-needed updates thanks to the generous support of Owens-Illinois.

December 2017

Congratulations to Ahmadreza Jahadakbar, a Ph.D. student working in the Dynamic and
Smart Systems Lab, who won first place in the TERMIS-AM Business Plan Competition
for his research Stiffness-Matched Skeletal Fixation Hardware. He presented at the
annual TERMIS conference and exhibition in December.

Dr. Bhaduri's company, OsteoNovus (co-founded with Dr. Goel and Dr. Agarwal in 2013)
received the first FDA clearance for bone graft substitute (BGS) putty. The produce
has been commercially launched and is being supplied to orthopedic surgeons all over
the country. Dr. Bhaduri was granted patents as the principal inventor for the technology
in Japan, Australia, China, and the European Union.

November 2017

Congratulations to the RegenFix team, Ahmadreza Jahadakbar, Narges Shayesteh Moghaddam,
and Amirhesam Amerinatanzi, for winning the crowd favorite award at the November 2017
Pitch and Pour Competition. Dr. Elahinia's group is the first in the world that, in
collaboration with NASA Glenn Research Center, has successfully demonstrated additive-manufactured,
has successfully demonstrated additive-manufactured, high-temperature shape memory
material NiTiHf. The technology has been licensed by the startup company RegenFix
to create patient-specific implants.

October 2017

Dr. Brian Trease's research team won the Thomas Tyrrell Best Poster award at the NASA
Nature-Inspired Exploration for Aerospace (NIEA) Biomimicry Summit. Brian Trease,
Adam Schroeder, and Lauren Marshal presented their research on biologically-inspired
mechanical engineering to address environmental concerns in the Great Lakes with the
poster "Filter-feeding Fish, Ant Pheromones, and Foraging: Biomimetic Robot Swarms."
The event was held near the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH from October
4-6.

The UT Rocketry Team's proposal for the NASA Student Launch 2017-2018 was approved.
The NASA Student Launch proposal selection process is competitive. The team is designing
a high-powered rocket named Kronos with a rover payload that will deploy from the
rocket vehicle and unfold solar panels.